The 2013 New York Skateboarding Year in Review: 5-1

subway ollie

2013 was okay. What is it about New Year’s this year that makes it seem more garbage than usual though? Anyway, like, where’s everyone at tonight? ;)

Previously: #s 25-21, #s 20-16, #s 15-11, #s 10-6, The Year in T.F. Obstacles

5. The Subway Track Ollie

If you have ever stood on a subway platform staring at the countdown clock, the thought has come to mind: “Could someone hypothetically ollie over the tracks?” In theory, if Jeremy Wray did that water tower ollie, it’d have to be possible. Then you’d consider the additional curve-in, the timing, the train, the bust, and eventually, the third rail, which stands to give anyone who touches it an unpleasant departure from earth in the event of a worst case scenario.

The speculation ended this year, as Koki Loaiza ollied from platform to platform at the 145th Street A station…going towards the third rail and earning press from media outlets far beyond skateboarding’s typical reach.

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The 2013 New York Skateboarding Year in Review: 25-21

25-Cellar Door

A.K.A. “The Events That Defined New York Skateboarding in 20__” Yeah, after three years, we figured that title might be a bit too wordy.

If you’ve been reading this website since at least last December, you know what’s going on here. If not, this is our concession to the internet’s annual list season, which we celebrate by chronicling the best bits of minutiae to occur in New York throughout the past year. Old editions — 2012: 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, 10-6, 5-1 / 2011: 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, 10-6, 5-1 / 2010: 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, 10-6, 5-1 / 2000s: 100-91, 90-81, 80-71, 70-61, 60-51, 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, 20-11, 10-2, #1.

25. A Chinatown Laundromat Creates the Most Adorably Futile Skateboarder Deterrent Ever

Did these people really think that northeastern skateboarding’s most beloved obstacle would become less appealing if they scrawled on it in bright yellow broken English? Did they realize it would become the most oft-Instagrammed object in all of New York skateboarding this year? Though it is not among the ranks of New York’s most prominent cellar door spots, this Delancey Street laundromat likely had a frustrating year in understanding why their prohibitive paint job wasn’t working.

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The Chillest Lines in Skateboarding History: 1993-1999, 2011-2012

chill lines header

Perhaps the only point in Alex Olson’s recent interview that did not polarize skateboarding’s sea of opinion, was his belief that nobody cares how hard tricks are anymore. We’ve all said “he’s good, but who cares” or written someone off as “a robot” before, so what do professional skateboarders have left to aspire to?

The line has long been the backbone of street skating. Skateboarder even published a print #listicle in the mid-2000s showcasing the best lines of all time. Appropriately enough, the latest entry belonged to P.J. Ladd, because his debut part was when progression really took off, and the “Everyone is Good” movement began to accelerate our numbness to incredible skateboarding.

“But what about style?” Sure, Ray Barbee looked amazing when only doing slappies and no complys, in a way that legions of art students have failed to replicate. Even Carroll’s library line — quite possibly the best thing ever done on a skateboard — wouldn’t be the same if it was performed by some midwesterner visiting San Francisco. Style plays a role, but remember when people would say things like “He’s so smooth?” None of that matters when everyone in a major skate video is “smooth.” Stylistic hallmarks have become less palpable because everyone skates and everyone is good. Everything was the same #drakevoice :(

A wise man once said “I don’t care how ‘good’ a video part is, all I care about is how cool it makes the skater look.” This list features the most timeless lines that were made so by the skater’s ability to make himself look cool, and not just “good.” They will stand out a decade down the line, even when each trick in a Micky Papa part is a go-to for fifty Stoner Park locals.

In a word, these lines are chill.

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Nothing Links the Same

set up

The 2013 edition of Frozen in Carbonite’s always great song of the summer + best video parts of the summer wrap up is now live. It tackles important topics like Mark Appleyard’s longevity, French Montana’s lack of figurative language, and Javier Sarmiento’s fashion choices. Notable omissions to the songs include “Versace,” “No New Friends,” “Type of Way,” “Fine China,” “Get Lucky” (“the Lone Ranger of summer songs” i.e. force fed garbage), and “I Hit It First,” the S.O.T.S. that sadly never was. You can check the 2012 edition here and the 2011 one here.

Joseph Delgado has a solid three-minute video checkout on the Transworld site. The Flushing extension tricks are awesome. (How has “Party and Bullshit” been used for like five skate parts, but nobody thought to use the Lord Finesse version?)

Download Black Dave’s new mixtape, Black Bart.

It has been on the horizon for quite some time, but it looks like the Astor Place renovation is close to becoming an unfortunate reality :(

A few summers ago, there was a kid who would always be at Lenox Ledges trying no comply impossible to frontside 5050s. Never saw him land it (or lock in), but this guy might have him beat either way.

Some dudes put together a historic mini documentary about Milano Centrale, the most famous skate spot in Italy. If given the choice right now, would you rather go to Milan or Prague for a ledge skating trip?

Thrasher uploaded some raw footage of Wade Speyer, Phil Shao and others skating around Manhattan with Bici, Gangemi and the Keefe brothers in the mid-nineties.

Mountain Dew seems committed to monopolizing the skateboard-related #listicle game, and taking a bit of Complex’s marketshare along with it. They have a new one that breaks down the history of Girl and Chocolate in a convenient form for those intimidated by seeing multiple paragraphs on the same page.

Speaking of #listicles, here’s one that makes the case for New Jersey contributing more to skateboarding than any other non-Californian state. Dave Filchak’s name is oddly missing from it though.

Check out volume four of Billy Rohan’s bro cam series, “Illumignarly.”

Database Volume 2 is a cool, largely Jersey City-based mini video.

If you’re pro, you should pro skate this thing before its gone.

QS Sports Desk: Can’t wait to watch D. Rose play again this season.

Quote of the Week:You sold your Xbox for weed.”

Thanks to everyone who linked our End of Summer clip: Recordings of Boardings, Grey Skate Mag, Monster Skate Mag, Caught in the Crossfire, NY Skateboarding, Skate Everyday, The Palamino Club, and anyone else. Also big thanks to everyone in the YouTube comments who informed us that Rich Homie Quan is “not real hip-hop.” We’ll re-edit it to KRS-One or something.

The 360 Flip’s Less Attractive Sister: A Study of the 10 Greatest Varial Flips in Skate Video History

top 10 varial flips

The varial flip occupies a strange space in skateboarding. It’s pigeonholed as a little kid trick — a midway point between the kickflip and 360 flip, and sometimes even the first flip trick learned by a kid who found the shove-it motion easier to land on than a straight up kickflip. Beyond that, it has a far better looking, more shapely and marketable sister trick: The varial flip is the Khloe to the 360 flip’s Kim and Kourtney.

Even when you run an image search for “varial flip” (every result is hideous), Google is right there with “360 flip” as the sole related search. Except when you Google “360 flip,” the term “varial flip” ceases to be relatable. No need to backtrack.

google varial flips

As observers of professional skateboarding, an eternal question burns in our minds every time a pro does a varial flip: “Why wouldn’t he just do a 360 flip?” Whether you agree or not, 360 flips infallibly share the “you can never have enough of them” category with ollies, kickflips, backside tailslides, or anything else you’ve seen Keith Hufnagel do several times in each his Real parts, while the varial flip remains a lumpy oddity that sets alarms off for critics of trick selection. No company would dare introduce a new rider with a varial flip ad, and Skechers certainly had no intention of calling Khloe for their Super Bowl commercial if Kim was unavailable.

Surely the most standard of 360 flips is superior to the greatest varial flip — if such a thing were to exist. Is there even such thing as a “great” varial flip? We set out to find an answer to this question. Here are the ten instances in which the Khloe Kardashian of flip tricks looked jussst right, by ten of skateboarding’s Lamar Odoms.

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